After a three-week holiday hiatus from soccer competition, players from the Cooper City Optimist Soccer League are biting at the bit to get on the fields to pursue division rivalries. The league includes eight boys and eight girls age divisions that add up to 112 clubs.

In the Boys Senior Division, Team France is on top of the 14-18 age division with Team Brazil. Both teams have an 8-1 record. There are six teams who will battle it out during the regular season before an end-of-season playoff tournament.

Team France head coach James LeGrande has coached in the CCO league for seven years. He is joined on the sideline by assistant coach Rich Ducharme.

“This has been so much fun because the players know how to play soccer and that makes my job easier,” LeGrande said. “The objective is to just play as a team and display good sportsmanship. The players want to beat their counterparts who are schoolmates for bragging rights. We’re a complete team and I’m pretty excited.”

The goalkeepers are Matheus Salomoni and Luke Wells who are supported by the strong defense of Anthony LeGrande, Aref Abdala and Matthew Marshall. Alex Katsotis controls the midfield and the top scorers are Eyton Rav-on and Reese Solomon. The strength of the team comes from the overall play of the entire team.